


vampire smile

by delimeful



Series: October 2019 Prompts [9]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Borrowers Fusion, Blood, Captivity, Cats, Fear, G/T, Gen, Tiny Vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21517153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delimeful/pseuds/delimeful
Summary: Biting a human in the early hours of the morning was meant as a last resort, Roman knew, but he was getting desperate enough to consider it.-Roman is a vampire cursed to a height of only a few inches, living in the walls of a student dorm. When Patton, the borrower who took him in, goes missing, he finds himself in danger of starving.And then, danger finds him. In the shape of a human scientist.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman & Morality | Patton
Series: October 2019 Prompts [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533644
Comments: 11
Kudos: 134





	1. Day 18: Fang

Biting a human in the early hours of the morning was meant as a last resort, Roman knew, but he was getting desperate enough to consider it. 

He’d been traversing the walls of the dorm for ages, searching for either a sleeping human or Patton with no luck. Summer break had most of the rooms empty, or humans all in a group together making noise late into the night. Those humans slept during the day, meaning that it was too risky for Roman to emerge from the walls.

Originally, he’d been much more worried about Patton- the little puffball was too trusting for his own good- but as the days passed, he was quickly coming to realize that he’d be no help to his little borrower friend if he starved to death while searching for him. 

That wasn’t to say he wasn’t still incredibly worried. The borrower was the only other tiny being in the dorms, and Roman owed him his life many times over. The only reason Roman was even able to traverse these dorms in the first place was because Patton considered all of the building his abode, and had invited the vampire in without hesitation. He couldn’t even go find an animal to feed on outside now, because without Patton granting him entry he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get back into the building before the sun rose.

If it weren’t for Patton’s help in learning vital borrower skills and occasionally letting Roman feed off him, he doubted he would have survived even a day longer out in the wild with most of his innate magic stripped from him. 

Now, he was perched on the nightstand next to the only human who seemed to keep a consistent sleeping schedule these days, a nerd by all measures of the word. Patton had warned him against borrowing from this bean, something about avoiding humans who were involved with the study of science. Roman hadn’t really retained much of the explanation.

Still, desperate times called for desperate measures, and so Roman climbed up to the bedspread and crawled under it, hurrying over to the nearest huge arm. 

He pushed the cuff of the human’s pajama sleeve up, exposing his wrist, and almost started drooling at the feeling of blood pumping beneath his undersized fingertips. Roman still hadn’t figured out the strange symbols the humans used to tell time, rather than just using the stars’ positions like smart creatures, so he had to be fast, lest the human wake before he could finish. 

With that in mind, he carefully licked the side of the human’s wrist- not over the veins, that would _definitely_ get him noticed- to numb the area. Swiping his tongue over his fangs once to coat them in the same numbing agent, he quickly bit down to break the skin. 

The human’s fingers twitched slightly, but his breathing continued, steady and deep, and so Roman didn’t hesitate to quickly lap at the wound. With humans, there was so much more blood in them that he didn’t have to worry about draining them. When he drank from Patton, it was in a much more delicate and careful manner.

He had only gotten a few mouthfuls, however, when a harsh, piercing sound broke through his concentration. The muscle under him tensed, and he resisted the urge to clamp his hands over his ears in favor of clinging to the human’s wrist, tiny clawed fingers digging into the skin.

Unfortunately, the tiny pinprick sensations didn’t go unnoticed, and Roman was whisked up into the air as the human lifted his arm. 

“What in the-!” Before he could even register the human’s gaze, another massive hand was swiping at him, knocking him off the wrist. He hit the bedspread hard, the air forced from his lungs. 

Above him, the human had pressed something to stop the noise, and was placing a pair of glasses on his face to look at him properly. Remembering the borrower rules, he struggled to roll over to his hands and knees, crawling towards the edge of the bed with little plan but ‘get away.’ 

“Wait, stop-” The human tried to place a hand over him, fingers curling around to trap him, and Roman panicked. He sank his teeth into the closest finger, eliciting a yelp of pain from the human, and found himself dropped on the bedspread once more, the taste of iron sweet in his mouth. 

“Grabbing an unknown specimen that has already bitten me once with my bare hands. Certainly not my proudest moment.” The human muttered to himself, before shifting off the bed to rise to his feet. His shadow loomed over Roman for a moment before heavy footsteps moved away. 

_Specimen?_ Roman felt his heart race faster, and he forced himself to scramble over the bunched up comforter as quick as he could.

Not fast enough. In the next moment, a clear plastic cup was set over him, the human’s hand acting as a weight to keep him from moving it. He pushed against it futilely anyhow. 

The human crouched to be eye level with the cup, still impossibly fast in his movements, and Roman flinched away, scrambling to press his back against the farther end of the cup. The human studied him intently, and a feeling of dread manifested in the pit of his stomach. 

“What exactly _are_ you?” He mused, almost to himself. 

Roman shoved at the cup again, baring his fangs. “None of your business! Let me go!” 

The human’s eyes widened. “You… talk?” 

The tiny vampire only had a moment to regret his hasty words before the cup was slid forward onto a textbook, forcing him to stumble along until he was trapped between the two items. The human lifted him up and walked over to his desk, gaze never leaving Roman. 

“That will make things much easier.” He set the textbook and cup with Roman inside on the desk, sitting in the chair a moment later. “My name is Logan, and I have quite a few questions for you.”

A shiver worked its way down Roman’s spine, and he glanced frantically at the window where the sky was lightening, bit by bit. He swallowed, nervous. 

“I’ll answer them, but only if you swear to let me go afterwards.” He bargained, straightening his back to seem taller. A pointless gesture, but it made him feel better. 

The human raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “I believe you owe me some answers regardless, seeing as you seem to have bitten me and, as I’ve never seen anything like you before, I have no way of knowing what sort of effects it could have on my health and wellbeing.” 

Roman bristled. He’d been living undetected in this building for half a year now, he knew how to feed on humans without harming them! “It won’t have any effects! You probably wouldn’t have even noticed it if you hadn’t woken up while I was in the middle of feeding!” 

“Feeding?” Logan asked, already beginning to scrawl notes in human writing. “So you subsist off of blood, then?” 

“Wait, no, nuh-uh.” Roman turned pointedly away. “I’m not telling you anything until you agree to let me go.” 

There was a long stretch of silence. “Disregarding the fact that I currently hold all the power here, how are you sure that I won’t just agree to get answers and keep you captive anyways?” Logan asked, tone genuinely curious. “Are you working off an honor system, or are deals more binding in your culture? Would you classify yourself as fae?”

“Aren’t you listening? I said, I’m not answering anything else!” Roman kept his shoulders stubbornly hunched to hide his trembling. “I’m not going to be some kind of science experiment. I’d rather die.” 

Logan leaned back, deep in thought, and Roman tried not to let his bluff show. He couldn’t die here, he had to go rescue Patton from whatever fate had befallen him! 

“Very well.” Logan said, drawing Roman’s eyes from the brightening horizon. “I swear to release you after my curiosity has been satisfied.” 

The little vampire nodded emphatically despite the odd phrasing, not yet knowing that it would take much, much longer than he anticipated to fulfill his end of the bargain.


	2. Day 25: Hiding

Patton didn’t realize that anything was different until it was too late. 

He’d ventured out for a borrowing trip on his usual schedule, passing a snoring Roman and climbing down to the second floor where one of his favorite tenants lived. 

Virgil was, predictably, sound asleep when Patton got there, despite it being past noon. Patton didn’t blame him; Poor kiddo had to sleep sometime with how late he stayed up! 

The student’s erratic sleeping habits used to frustrate him, since he normally only borrowed at night, which was prime time for Virgil to be awake. Over time, though, Patton had figured out that he just couldn’t sleep the same as most students, and having a room that he could reliably visit during the day was nice! Especially since he liked to hang out with Roman at night. 

Now, it was late morning, meaning that Roman was safely tucked away in the walls and Virgil had finally passed out. Lucky that it was break and the guy didn’t have any early classes! Patton rappelled down the entrance by the wardrobe and quietly jogged across the carpet to the nightstand, which often had open bags of chips or jerky sitting out. 

He sighed, looking at the pile of half-empty wrappers. He sure wished the kiddo would go eat in the communal dining hall more often! It would be healthier _and_ help him find more friends. 

Still, for now it was convenient for Patton’s empty pantry. He pulled a few cookies from a crinkly foil bag as quietly as he could, secure in the knowledge that Virgil was a fairly heavy sleeper. 

Above him, something shifted, and a shadow fell over him. He stilled, and then slowly turned his head up, a cookie in hand. 

Two feline eyes stared back at him, the black of their pupils nearly eclipsing the green orbs. Patton forced himself not to make any sudden movements, despite his instinct telling him to flee as fast as possible. He had never felt so threatened by something so adorable in his life.

“Mrew?” The kitten asked, and Patton ducked into a crouch and quickly crawled into the gap under the nightstand. There was a light thump of a paw batting against blanket, but to his surprise, the cat didn’t jump down to investigate further. He wriggled deeper into the space under the nightstand, holding the cookie to himself like a security blanket. 

Why was there a cat in the dorms? Patton knew for a fact that it was against the school policy to have animals, something he’d heard students bemoan many a time. Besides that, this kitten certainly hadn’t been here last time Patton had come to borrow, which hadn’t been that long ago. Had Virgil smuggled the cute little menace in here? That was against the rules! 

He took a glum bite out of the cookie. The cat may not have chased him yet, but there was no way he could expect his luck to hold up long enough to trek all the way back to his entrance! He’d have to stay here in hiding until Virgil took the little guy outside or put him in a carrier or something. Roman always had more luck scaring off small animals, but he wouldn’t be able to stage a rescue until night arrived.

Patton sighed, and settled in for a long wait.

A few hours later, Virgil finally rose to face the day, stumbling out of bed and getting dressed. He called the kitten ‘little monster’ in a fond tone, and set her down on the floor as he got ready, shrugging on his favorite hoodie and applying his unique brand of eyeshadow. 

Patton gulped as the kitten laid down on her side on the floor, looking directly at him with her tail flicking. After a moment of tense eye contact, the kitten pounced forward, landing right in front of the nightstand and eliciting a muffled yelp from Patton.

Thankfully, Virgil was too far away to hear, but the kitten seemed intent on reaching him, swiping under the nightstand with a lightning-fast paw. He shoved himself back more, whispering frantically at the cat. 

“No! No no, bad kitty, I can’t play with you!” 

Little Monster remained undeterred by his words, because she was a cat and didn’t understand him. Patton sighed, and then stiffened with apprehension when Virgil’s footsteps returned. 

“What are you doing, you tyrant? Hunting dust bunnies?” He asked, leaning down to scoop up the little black form. Patton sighed in relief, but he must have inhaled some of the kitten’s fur, because an unbearable itch started up in his throat, and he was unable to keep himself from sneezing, once, twice, three times. _Loudly_.

He froze, eyes already growing puffy from allergies. There was no way the human hadn’t heard that, no matter how small he was. For a moment, Virgil seemed stunned into silence as well, but sure enough, two knees hit the floorboards in front of him and the human leaned his face down to look under the nightstand.

The moment those mismatched eyes made contact with him, Patton felt a shudder run down his spine, and he scrambled to where the nightstand met the wall. 

“What the- Hey!” Virgil said, sounding surprised and possibly even angry. Patton didn’t stop to check his expression, instead shuffling along the back as quick as he could to reach under the bed. There were no exits under there, and maybe the kitten could fit, but Virgil couldn’t. 

And right now? The human was the one he was worried about. 

Before he could reach the spot where the nightstand met the bed frame, however, there was a loud screeching around him as the whole structure was pulled back by human hands. Patton’s leg was caught against the side of it, and he cried out in pain as he was dragged back a few feet and scraped against the wood flooring.

“Shit!” A shadow fell over him, and he tried to pull himself forwards, now crawling. It was pointless, though, and the fact was only confirmed by the way huge, warm fingers wrapped around him and lifted him off the floor easily, ignoring his grasping hands. Patton sobbed, half in pain and half in fear of what would happen to him now. 

“Crap, are you hurt?” A familiar voice asked, vibrating through him. Patton sniffled, wiggling his limbs against the solid grip around him, and was abruptly brought close to the human’s face. 

Virgil’s customary eye makeup made him look more menacing than ever as he inspected Patton, brow furrowed with upset. “Where does it hurt? Can you speak? Oh man, what even are you?” 

Patton bit down on his tongue, forcing himself not to show any sign that he understood, and then flinched when something vibrated loudly nearby. Virgil looked over to his bed and winced.

“That’ll be my alarm…” He looked from Patton to the floor, where Little Monster was kneading at his legs and looking up at Patton with big eyes. “Okay, okay. Stay calm. We can handle this.” He seemed to be talking more to himself than Patton.

Stepping through the room so quickly that the borrower got a little lightheaded, Virgil pulled open his closet door and rifled through the mess inside of it for a long moment. “Aha!” 

He emerged with a clear, plastic ball in hand, and Patton went pale as he unscrewed it. “I knew this would come in handy.” 

Virgil held it up, and then looked between it and Patton, who was digging his fingers into Virgil’s hand as his struggles increased tenfold. “Look, I don’t know if you can understand me, but… I have to go meet up with my friend to give him back his cat. I promise I’ll be back soon, and this thing is ventilated and totally safe, okay?”

With an awkward grimace, he maneuvered his hand into the hamster ball and let Patton slide into the curved bottom. Before the borrower could even stand, Virgil was sliding the door back on with a clicking sound, and then layering some packing tape over it for good measure. Patton slipped back onto the sloped floor every time the human moved too quickly with it in his hand, and his heart sank as he stared at the now-impassable door. 

“Uh, be back soon.” Virgil told him as he set the hamster ball down on the bedroom floor and picked up the kitten just before she could launch herself at Patton’s prison. 

The door clicked shut behind him, and Patton began to cry in earnest.


End file.
